U.S. Needs National CE Recycling Law Now

A story in today’s Wall Street Journal with the headline “Electronics Firms Fight State Recycling Programs” brings to a head concerns on the part of the CE industry about this critical issue.

As we have reported over the past two years, the industry, led by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), is certainly not against recycling.

The industry and CEA have tried to stay ahead of consumer concerns about recycling, especially with headlines and coverage of the DTV conversion and the disposal of tons of tube TVs this year.

Sony has its own recycling program; Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba are partners in the Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management venture; and there is the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. (RBRC), as well as efforts by Best Buy, Dell and other companies.

More states and local municipalities are putting through their own recycling laws that are all different in some way, shape and form, which makes it impossible for the industry to follow since they sell nationally.

The industry backs recycling, but it wants a national law that everyone can understand and comply with.

The environment and the industry, especially during this recession, needs federal legislation now, before more of the industry’s scant resources are spent trying meet potentially hundreds of state and local laws on electronics recycling.

For more on our coverage of this issue visit the Going Green section of our site.